Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS dismissed

Reporting from New York - During a court hearing last week, Dan Rather's long and costly battle against CBS Corp. appeared to be finally getting some traction. Ira Gammerman, the New York Supreme Court judge hearing motions on the case, repeatedly urged the squabbling parties to resolve their conflicts over deposition and discovery so Rather's lawsuit against his former employer could go to trial. He ruled that Rather could depose Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, dismissing CBS' objections. "Let's get this case moving," Gammerman said. But Tuesday, a state appellate court halted the $70-million suit in its tracks. In a unanimous decision, the appellate panel dismissed the case in its entirety, writing that Gammerman had erred in allowing Rather to pursue his allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. Rather's attorneys immediately vowed to appeal. But the decision represented a severe blow to the 77-year-old newsman, who has been personally financing the suit for two years. Pursuing the case has estranged him from the news division where he worked for 44 years and led CBS executives to disparage him recently in strikingly personal terms.